Animated chat presence

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a method for generating and causing display of a communication interface that facilitates the sharing of emotions through the creation of 3D avatars, and more particularly with the creation of such interfaces for displaying 3D avatars for use with mobile devices, cloud based systems and the like.

CLAIM FOR PRIRORITY

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priorityof U.S. application Ser. No. 17/223,321, filed Apr. 13, 2021, whichapplication is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priority ofU.S. application Ser. No. 16/792,569, filed Feb. 17, 2020, now issued asU.S. Pat. No. 11,030,789, which is a continuation of and claims thebenefit of priority of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/797,875, filed Oct.30, 2017, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,657,695, all of which arehereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to mobilecomputing technology and, more particularly, but not by way oflimitation, to systems for generating and presenting a graphical userinterfaces that include avatars associated with users.

BACKGROUND

Increased prevalence of mobile devices has resulted in “socialnetworking” to become an important part in the day-to-day activities ofmany people's lives. Today, hundreds of millions of people use theirvirtual identities to communicate and interact with other people overthe web, internet and the like via Social networking sites. In addition,these virtual identities are used to play games over the web, internetand the like.

While social networking provides the ability for contact between peopleany time of day or night, it is often difficult to ascertain exactly howpeople are feeling by looking at their virtual identity, or throughreading text messages alone. An improvement to existing socialnetworking sites would therefore be a means to facilitate the conveyanceof moods, feelings, sentiments etc. can be made available via the web,Internet and the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, themost significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to thefigure number in which that element is first introduced.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example messaging system forexchanging data (e.g., messages and associated content) over a networkin accordance with some embodiments, wherein the messaging systemincludes a chat presence system.

FIG. 2 is block diagram illustrating further details regarding amessaging system, according to example embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating various modules of a chatpresence system, according to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram depicting operations of the chat presencesystem in generating a 3D avatar based on image data, according tocertain example embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a depiction of a communication interface that includes apresentation of a 3D avatar generated by the chat presence system,according to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for generating an animated3D avatar, according to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for generating an animated3D avatar, according to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method for generating an animated3D avatar, according to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a representative softwarearchitecture, which may be used in conjunction with various hardwarearchitectures herein described and used to implement variousembodiments.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine,according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from amachine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) andperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a method for generating and causingdisplay of a communication interface that facilitates the sharing ofemotions through the creation of 3D avatars and their interactions, andmore particularly with the creation of such avatars for use with mobiledevices, cloud based systems and the like.

For example, a “chat presence system” may generate and display acommunication interface to display chat presence indicators that include3D avatars associated with user devices, by performing operations thatinclude detecting an initiation of a communication session betweenmobile devices (e.g., a chat request, a text message, etc.), causingdisplay of the communication interface at the mobile devices in responseto the initiation of the communication session, wherein thecommunication interface includes a presentation of a 3D avatarassociated with each user engaged in the communication session. Themobile devices capture image data via integrated cameras, and based onthe image data, animate the presentations of the 3D avatars to mimic, orotherwise convey facial expressions of users of the mobile devices.

The chat presence system activates a camera (e.g., a front facingcamera) of a first mobile device (among the mobile devices engaging inthe communication session) in response to detecting the initiation ofthe communication session between the first mobile device and at least asecond mobile device. The front facing camera of the first mobile devicecaptures image data (e.g., pictures, video data) in real time, andgenerates a mesh representation of a face of the user based on the imagedata. The chat presence system may thereby animate the 3D avatarassociated with the user of the first client device within thecommunication interface, based on the mesh representation.

In some example embodiments, the mesh representation of the face of theuser includes an indication of a point of gaze of the user, wherein thepoint of gaze represents a direction in which the user is looking. Forexample, the chat presence system may perform eye tracking techniques,such as optical tracking, by reflecting infrared light from the eyes ofthe user, capturing the reflected infrared light by a front-facingcamera, and analyzing the reflected light to extract and determine pointof gaze information based on the change in reflections. The chatpresence system animates the 3D avatar associated with the user, forexample by rotating an orientation of the 3D avatar, or moving a pair ofeyes of the 3D avatar, based on the point of gaze information from themesh representation.

In some example embodiments, the animating the 3D avatar may includecausing the 3D avatar to mimic facial movements of a user, based on themesh representation of the face of the user. For example, as a usermoves their head, and changes facial expressions, the chat presencesystem generates the mesh representation of the user's face in realtime, and animates the 3D avatar associated with the user based on themesh representation. In this way, the 3D avatar may smile, frown, nod toindicate a “yes,” or shake to indicate a “no,” or turn/look in anydirection along with the user.

In some example embodiments, the chat presence system captures audiodata at a client device, and presents the audio data through thecommunication interface at the one or more mobile devices engaged in thecommunication session. For example, the chat presence system mayactivate a microphone of the client device in response to detecting amouth of the user moving, based on the mesh representation.

The presenting of the audio data may include playing the audio data atthe one or more mobile devices, and/or transcribing the audio data to atext string, and causing display of a text bubble that includes the textstring within the communication interface, wherein the text bubblecomprises a speech indicator extending from the 3D avatar.

In some example embodiments, the chat presence system displays thecommunication interface at a set of client devices, and display a 3Davatar for each user engaged in the communication session, in responseto detecting the user joining the communication session. Consider thefollowing illustrative example from a user perspective. A user of afirst client device transmits a communication request to at least asecond client device. A user of the second client device accepts thecommunication request, and in response, a communication interface isgenerated and displayed at the first client device and the second clientdevice, wherein the communication interface at the first client deviceincludes a presentation of a 3D avatar associated with the user of thesecond client device, and the communication interface presented at thesecond client device includes a presentation of a 3D avatar associatedwith the user of the first client device. As additional users join thecommunication session, the chat presence system generates and causesdisplay of 3D avatars of the additional users within the communicationinterface. In this way, the 3D avatar functions as a “chat presence” ofa user, to represent a user's presence in the communication session.Similarly, as users leave the communication session, or deactivate acamera that captures image data, the chat presence system removes acorresponding 3D avatar from the communication interface, andreconfigured the presentation of the remaining 3D avatars within thecommunication interface.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example messaging system 100 forexchanging data (e.g., messages and associated content) over a network.The messaging system 100 includes multiple client devices 102, each ofwhich hosts a number of applications including a messaging clientapplication 104. Each messaging client application 104 iscommunicatively coupled to other instances of the messaging clientapplication 104 and a messaging server system 108 via a network 106(e.g., the Internet).

Accordingly, each messaging client application 104 is able tocommunicate and exchange data with another messaging client application104 and with the messaging server system 108 via the network 106. Thedata exchanged between messaging client applications 104, and between amessaging client application 104 and the messaging server system 108,includes functions (e.g., commands to invoke functions) as well aspayload data (e.g., text, audio, video or other multimedia data).

The messaging server system 108 provides server-side functionality viathe network 106 to a particular messaging client application 104. Whilecertain functions of the messaging system 100 are described herein asbeing performed by either a messaging client application 104 or by themessaging server system 108, it will be appreciated that the location ofcertain functionality either within the messaging client application 104or the messaging server system 108 is a design choice. For example, itmay be technically preferable to initially deploy certain technology andfunctionality within the messaging server system 108, but to latermigrate this technology and functionality to the messaging clientapplication 104 where a client device 102 has a sufficient processingcapacity.

The messaging server system 108 supports various services and operationsthat are provided to the messaging client application 104. Suchoperations include transmitting data to, receiving data from, andprocessing data generated by the messaging client application 104. Insome embodiments, this data includes, message content, client deviceinformation, geolocation information, media annotation and overlays,message content persistence conditions, social network information, andlive event information, as examples. In other embodiments, other data isused. Data exchanges within the messaging system 100 are invoked andcontrolled through functions available via GUIs of the messaging clientapplication 104.

Turning now specifically to the messaging server system 108, anApplication Program Interface (API) server 110 is coupled to, andprovides a programmatic interface to, an application server 112. Theapplication server 112 is communicatively coupled to a database server118, which facilitates access to a database 120 in which is stored dataassociated with messages processed by the application server 112.

Dealing specifically with the Application Program Interface (API) server110, this server receives and transmits message data (e.g., commands andmessage payloads) between the client device 102 and the applicationserver 112. Specifically, the Application Program Interface (API) server110 provides a set of interfaces (e.g., routines and protocols) that canbe called or queried by the messaging client application 104 in order toinvoke functionality of the application server 112. The ApplicationProgram Interface (API) server 110 exposes various functions supportedby the application server 112, including account registration, loginfunctionality, the sending of messages, via the application server 112,from a particular messaging client application 104 to another messagingclient application 104, the sending of media files (e.g., images orvideo) from a messaging client application 104 to the messaging serverapplication 114, and for possible access by another messaging clientapplication 104, the setting of a collection of media data (e.g.,story), the retrieval of a list of friends of a user of a client device102, the retrieval of such collections, the retrieval of messages andcontent, the adding and deletion of friends to a social graph, thelocation of friends within a social graph, opening and application event(e.g., relating to the messaging client application 104).

The application server 112 hosts a number of applications andsubsystems, including a messaging server application 114, an imageprocessing system 116, a social network system 122, and a chat presencesystem 124. The messaging server application 114 implements a number ofmessage processing technologies and functions, particularly related tothe aggregation and other processing of content (e.g., textual andmultimedia content) included in messages received from multipleinstances of the messaging client application 104. As will be describedin further detail, the text and media content from multiple sources maybe aggregated into collections of content (e.g., called stories orgalleries). These collections are then made available, by the messagingserver application 114, to the messaging client application 104. Otherprocessor and memory intensive processing of data may also be performedserver-side by the messaging server application 114, in view of thehardware requirements for such processing.

The application server 112 also includes an image processing system 116that is dedicated to performing various image processing operations,typically with respect to images or video received within the payload ofa message at the messaging server application 114.

The social network system 122 supports various social networkingfunctions services, and makes these functions and services available tothe messaging server application 114. To this end, the social networksystem 122 maintains and accesses an entity graph 304 within thedatabase 120. Examples of functions and services supported by the socialnetwork system 122 include the identification of other users of themessaging system 100 with which a particular user has relationships oris “following,” and also the identification of other entities andinterests of a particular user.

The application server 112 is communicatively coupled to a databaseserver 118, which facilitates access to a database 120 in which isstored data associated with messages processed by the messaging serverapplication 114.

FIG. 2 is block diagram illustrating further details regarding themessaging system 100, according to example embodiments. Specifically,the messaging system 100 is shown to comprise the messaging clientapplication 104 and the application server 112, which in turn embody anumber of some subsystems, namely an ephemeral timer system 202, acollection management system 204 and an annotation system 206.

The ephemeral timer system 202 is responsible for enforcing thetemporary access to content permitted by the messaging clientapplication 104 and the messaging server application 114. To this end,the ephemeral timer system 202 incorporates a number of timers that,based on duration and display parameters associated with a message,collection of messages (e.g., a SNAPCHAT story), or graphical element,selectively display and enable access to messages and associated contentvia the messaging client application 104. Further details regarding theoperation of the ephemeral timer system 202 are provided below.

The collection management system 204 is responsible for managingcollections of media (e.g., collections of text, image video and audiodata). In some examples, a collection of content (e.g., messages,including images, video, text and audio) may be organized into an “eventgallery” or an “event story.” Such a collection may be made availablefor a specified time period, such as the duration of an event to whichthe content relates. For example, content relating to a music concertmay be made available as a “story” for the duration of that musicconcert. The collection management system 204 may also be responsiblefor publishing an icon that provides notification of the existence of aparticular collection to the user interface of the messaging clientapplication 104.

The collection management system 204 furthermore includes a curationinterface 208 that allows a collection manager to manage and curate aparticular collection of content. For example, the curation interface208 enables an event organizer to curate a collection of contentrelating to a specific event (e.g., delete inappropriate content orredundant messages). Additionally, the collection management system 204employs machine vision (or image recognition technology) and contentrules to automatically curate a content collection. In certainembodiments, compensation may be paid to a user for inclusion of usergenerated content into a collection. In such cases, the curationinterface 208 operates to automatically make payments to such users forthe use of their content.

The annotation system 206 provides various functions that enable a userto annotate or otherwise modify or edit media content associated with amessage. For example, the annotation system 206 provides functionsrelated to the generation and publishing of media overlays for messagesprocessed by the messaging system 100. The annotation system 206operatively supplies a media overlay (e.g., a SNAPCHAT filter) to themessaging client application 104 based on a geolocation of the clientdevice 102. In another example, the annotation system 206 operativelysupplies a media overlay to the messaging client application 104 basedon other information, such as, social network information of the user ofthe client device 102. A media overlay may include audio and visualcontent and visual effects. Examples of audio and visual content includepictures, texts, logos, animations, and sound effects. An example of avisual effect includes color overlaying. The audio and visual content orthe visual effects can be applied to a media content item (e.g., aphoto) at the client device 102. For example, the media overlayincluding text that can be overlaid on top of a photograph generatedtaken by the client device 102. In another example, the media overlayincludes an identification of a location overlay (e.g., Venice beach), aname of a live event, or a name of a merchant overlay (e.g., BeachCoffee House). In another example, the annotation system 206 uses thegeolocation of the client device 102 to identify a media overlay thatincludes the name of a merchant at the geolocation of the client device102. The media overlay may include other indicia associated with themerchant. The media overlays may be stored in the database 120 andaccessed through the database server 118.

In one example embodiment, the annotation system 206 provides auser-based publication platform that enables users to select ageolocation on a map, and upload content associated with the selectedgeolocation. The user may also specify circumstances under which aparticular media overlay should be offered to other users. Theannotation system 206 generates a media overlay that includes theuploaded content and associates the uploaded content with the selectedgeolocation.

In another example embodiment, the annotation system 206 provides amerchant-based publication platform that enables merchants to select aparticular media overlay associated with a geolocation via a biddingprocess. For example, the annotation system 206 associates the mediaoverlay of a highest bidding merchant with a corresponding geolocationfor a predefined amount of time

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating components of the chat presencesystem 124, that configure the chat presence system 124 to detect aninitiation of a communication session between mobile devices (e.g., achat request, a text message, etc.), generate a communication interfaceat the mobile devices in response to the initiation of the communicationsession, wherein the communication interface includes a presentation ofa 3D avatar associated with each user engaged in the communicationsession, according to some example embodiments. The chat presence system124 is shown as including a communication module 302, a display module304, an image module 306, and an animation module 308, all configured tocommunicate with each other (e.g., via a bus, shared memory, or aswitch). Any one or more of these modules may be implemented using oneor more processors 310 (e.g., by configuring such one or more processorsto perform functions described for that module) and hence may includeone or more of the processors 310.

Any one or more of the modules described may be implemented usinghardware alone (e.g., one or more of the processors 310 of a machine) ora combination of hardware and software. For example, any moduledescribed of the chat presence system 124 may physically include anarrangement of one or more of the processors 310 (e.g., a subset of oramong the one or more processors of the machine) configured to performthe operations described herein for that module. As another example, anymodule of the chat presence system 124 may include software, hardware,or both, that configure an arrangement of one or more processors 310(e.g., among the one or more processors of the machine) to perform theoperations described herein for that module. Accordingly, differentmodules of the chat presence system 124 may include and configuredifferent arrangements of such processors 310 or a single arrangement ofsuch processors 310 at different points in time. Moreover, any two ormore modules of the chat presence system 124 may be combined into asingle module, and the functions described herein for a single modulemay be subdivided among multiple modules. Furthermore, according tovarious example embodiments, modules described herein as beingimplemented within a single machine, database, or device may bedistributed across multiple machines, databases, or devices.

FIG. 4 includes a flow diagram 400, depicting visualizations ofoperations of the chat presence system 124 in generating a 3D avatarbased on image data, according to certain example embodiments.

Image 402 is a depiction of a user of a mobile device (e.g., clientdevice 102). In some example embodiments, in response to thecommunication module 302 detecting an initiation of a communicationsession between the mobile device and at least one other mobile device,the image module 306 captures the image 402 via a camera. The camera mayinclude a front facing camera integrated into the client device 102, orin some embodiments may include modular, or standalone cameras, or acamera of a separate device. The image 402 may comprise a photograph, orin some embodiments may include real-time video.

The animation module 308 generates the mesh representation 404 based onthe image 402. For example, the animation module 308 may access theimage 402 in response to the communication module 302 detecting theinitiation of the communication session, and parse RGB color values fromthe image 402, and generate the mesh representation 404 based on the RGBcolor values. The mesh representation 404 therefore provides a polygonmesh representation of the face, and accordingly facial expressions, ofthe user.

The animation module 308 generates the 3D avatar 406 based on the meshrepresentation 404. The 3D avatar 406 may therefore depict facialexpressions of the user based on the mesh representation 404. In someembodiments, the 3D avatar 406 may comprise a set of avatar attributesthat determine an appearance of the 3D avatar 406. For example, theimage module 306 may select a set of avatar attributes from among adatabase of avatar attributes, based on the image data extracted fromthe image 402. In further embodiments, a user may select the avatarattributes to configure the 3D avatar 406, and associate the 3D avatar406 with a user account. The display module 304 may cause display of the3D avatar 406 at the mobile devices engaged in the communicationsession.

FIG. 5 is a depiction of a communication interface 500 that includes apresentation of a 3D avatar 502 generated by the chat presence system124, and a text bubble 504, according to certain example embodiments.

As seen in FIG. 5, the communication interface 500 may be displayed at agroup of client devices engaged in a communication session (e.g., afirst client device and a second client device). In response to theinitiation of the communication session, the display module 302 causesdisplay of the communication interface 500, wherein the communicationinterface 500 includes a presentation of the 3D avatar 502 at a locationwithin the communication interface 500. In some example embodiments, thechat presence system 124 may transcribe audio received at a clientdevice and display the transcribed audio in the text bubble 504, asdescribed in the method 700 of FIG. 7.

The 3D avatar 502 may convey facial expressions of a user of anassociated client device, by the method 600 of FIG. 6. FIG. 6 is aflowchart illustrating a method 600 for generating an animated 3Davatar, according to certain example embodiments. Operations of themethod 600 may be performed by the modules described above with respectto FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 6, the method 600 includes one or moreoperations 602, 604, 606, 608, and 610.

At operation 602, the communication module 302 detects an initiation ofa communication session at a first client device, wherein thecommunication session is between the first client device and at least asecond client device. For example, a user associated with the firstclient device may join (or request to join) a chat session hosted orengaged by at least the second client device. The chat session mayinclude a video chat, a chat-room, or simply a text conversation among agroup of users via associated client devices. The communication module302 may detect the initiation of the communications session based on asignal received via a graphical user interface.

In response to the communication module 302 detecting the first clientdevice joining or otherwise initiating a communication session with atleast the second client device, at operation 604 the display module 304generates and causes display of a communication interface at the groupof client devices, including the first client device and the secondclient device. The communication interface may comprise a display ofmessages sent and received by the client devices engaged in thecommunication session.

At operation 606, the image module 306 captures image data (e.g., theimage 402 of FIG. 4) at the first client device, wherein the image datadepicts a face of the user, in response to the communication module 302detecting the initiation of the communication session. The image datamay comprise a photograph, or in some embodiments may include real-timevideo.

In some embodiments, the image module 306 may detect faces within theimage data captured by the image module 306, and authenticate the userof the first client device based on facial recognition techniques priorto proceeding to operation 608.

At operation 608, the animation module 308 generates a meshrepresentation (e.g., mesh representation 404 of FIG. 4) of the face ofthe user based on the image data, in response to capturing the imagedata, or in some embodiments, in response to authenticating the userbased on the image data. The mesh representation may for example includea polygon mesh that defines a surface, such as the face of the user. Insome embodiments, the animation module 308 may generate the meshrepresentation based on RGB color values parsed from the image datacaptured by the image module 306.

At operation 610, the display module 304 animates the 3D avatarassociated with the first client device within the communicationinterface, based on the mesh representation of the face of the user.Animating the 3D avatar may include causing the 3D avatar to displayfacial expressions and gestures of the user, based on the meshrepresentation of the face of the user.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method 700 for generating ananimated 3D avatar, according to certain example embodiments. Operationsof the method 700 may be performed by the modules described above withrespect to FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 7, the method 700 includes one ormore operations 702, 704, 706, and 708.

At operation 702, the communication module 302 captures audio data atthe first client device, wherein the audio data may for example comprisea spoken word or phrase. In some embodiments, the communication module302 may simply present the audio data via the client devices included inthe communication session, while animating the 3D avatar associated withthe user of the first client device, giving the appearance of the 3Davatar speaking the audio data.

In further embodiments, at operation 704, the communication module 302transcribes the audio data to a text string. In some embodiments, thecommunication module 302 may also translate the text string from onelanguage to another. For example, the communication module 302 maydetermine a first language associated with the audio data based on acomparison of the audio data to a database of common words or phrases,or based on language preferences of the user associated with the firstclient device. In some embodiments, the user of the first client devicemay specify to translate from the first language to a second language.In further embodiments, the communication module 302 may determine alanguage spoken within the communication session, and translate to thecommon language.

At operation 706, the display module 304 causes display of a text bubblewithin the communication interface in response to the communicationmodule 302 capturing the audio data, wherein the text bubble comprises aspeech indicator extending from the 3D avatar associated with the userof the first client device. At operation 708, the display module 304populates the text bubble with the text string transcribed from theaudio data.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method 800 for generating ananimated 3D avatar, according to certain example embodiments. Operationsof the method 800 may be performed by the modules described above withrespect to FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 8, the method 800 includes one ormore operations 802, 804, and 806. Operations of the method 800 may beperformed as part (e.g., a precursor task, a subroutine, or a portion)of the method 600, according to some example embodiments.

At operation 802, the communication module 302 receives a chat requestfrom a third client device to join the communication session between thefirst client device and at least the second client device. For example,the first client device and the second client device may be engaged in avideo chat or text based chat session, wherein the communication sessionis displayed within a communication interface at the first and secondclient devices, and wherein the communication interface includes apresentation of 3D avatars associated with users of the first and secondclient devices. The third client device may be invited by the first orsecond client device to join the communication session, or may otherwiserequest to join the communication session.

At operation 804, in response to the communication module 302 receivingthe chat request from the third client device, the display module 304causes display of a 3D avatar associated with the third client devicewithin the communication interface at the user devices engaged in thecommunication session.

At operation 806, in response to the third client device joining thecommunication session, and the display of the 3D avatar associated withthe third client device within the communication interface, the displaymodule 304 adjusts a size of the 3D avatars displayed within thecommunication interface in order to accommodate for the 3D avatarassociated with the third client device.

Software Architecture

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example software architecture906, which may be used in conjunction with various hardwarearchitectures herein described. FIG. 9 is a non-limiting example of asoftware architecture and it will be appreciated that many otherarchitectures may be implemented to facilitate the functionalitydescribed herein. The software architecture 906 may execute on hardwaresuch as machine 1000 of FIG. 10 that includes, among other things,processors 1004, memory 1014, and I/O components 1018. A representativehardware layer 952 is illustrated and can represent, for example, themachine 900 of FIG. 9. The representative hardware layer 952 includes aprocessing unit 954 having associated executable instructions 904.Executable instructions 904 represent the executable instructions of thesoftware architecture 906, including implementation of the methods,components and so forth described herein. The hardware layer 952 alsoincludes memory and/or storage modules memory/storage 956, which alsohave executable instructions 904. The hardware layer 952 may alsocomprise other hardware 958.

In the example architecture of FIG. 9, the software architecture 906 maybe conceptualized as a stack of layers where each layer providesparticular functionality. For example, the software architecture 906 mayinclude layers such as an operating system 902, libraries 920,applications 916 and a presentation layer 914. Operationally, theapplications 916 and/or other components within the layers may invokeapplication programming interface (API) API calls 908 through thesoftware stack and receive a response as in response to the API calls908. The layers illustrated are representative in nature and not allsoftware architectures have all layers. For example, some mobile orspecial purpose operating systems may not provide aframeworks/middleware 918, while others may provide such a layer. Othersoftware architectures may include additional or different layers.

The operating system 902 may manage hardware resources and providecommon services. The operating system 902 may include, for example, akernel 922, services 924 and drivers 926. The kernel 922 may act as anabstraction layer between the hardware and the other software layers.For example, the kernel 922 may be responsible for memory management,processor management (e.g., scheduling), component management,networking, security settings, and so on. The services 924 may provideother common services for the other software layers. The drivers 926 areresponsible for controlling or interfacing with the underlying hardware.For instance, the drivers 926 include display drivers, camera drivers,Bluetooth® drivers, flash memory drivers, serial communication drivers(e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) drivers), Wi-Fi® drivers, audiodrivers, power management drivers, and so forth depending on thehardware configuration.

The libraries 920 provide a common infrastructure that is used by theapplications 916 and/or other components and/or layers. The libraries920 provide functionality that allows other software components toperform tasks in an easier fashion than to interface directly with theunderlying operating system 902 functionality (e.g., kernel 922,services 924 and/or drivers 926). The libraries 920 may include systemlibraries 944 (e.g., C standard library) that may provide functions suchas memory allocation functions, string manipulation functions,mathematical functions, and the like. In addition, the libraries 920 mayinclude API libraries 946 such as media libraries (e.g., libraries tosupport presentation and manipulation of various media format such asMPREG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG), graphics libraries (e.g., anOpenGL framework that may be used to render 2D and 3D in a graphiccontent on a display), database libraries (e.g., SQLite that may providevarious relational database functions), web libraries (e.g., WebKit thatmay provide web browsing functionality), and the like. The libraries 920may also include a wide variety of other libraries 948 to provide manyother APIs to the applications 916 and other softwarecomponents/modules.

The frameworks/middleware 918 (also sometimes referred to as middleware)provide a higher-level common infrastructure that may be used by theapplications 916 and/or other software components/modules. For example,the frameworks/middleware 918 may provide various graphic user interface(GUI) functions, high-level resource management, high-level locationservices, and so forth. The frameworks/middleware 918 may provide abroad spectrum of other APIs that may be utilized by the applications916 and/or other software components/modules, some of which may bespecific to a particular operating system 902 or platform.

The applications 916 include built-in applications 938 and/orthird-party applications 940. Examples of representative built-inapplications 938 may include, but are not limited to, a contactsapplication, a browser application, a book reader application, alocation application, a media application, a messaging application,and/or a game application. Third-party applications 940 may include anapplication developed using the ANDROID™ or IOS™ software developmentkit (SDK) by an entity other than the vendor of the particular platform,and may be mobile software running on a mobile operating system such asIOS™, ANDROID™, WINDOWS® Phone, or other mobile operating systems. Thethird-party applications 940 may invoke the API calls 908 provided bythe mobile operating system (such as operating system 902) to facilitatefunctionality described herein.

The applications 916 may use built in operating system functions (e.g.,kernel 922, services 924 and/or drivers 926), libraries 920, andframeworks/middleware 918 to create user interfaces to interact withusers of the system. Alternatively, or additionally, in some systemsinteractions with a user may occur through a presentation layer, such aspresentation layer 914. In these systems, the application/component“logic” can be separated from the aspects of the application/componentthat interact with a user.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine 1000,according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from amachine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) andperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.Specifically, FIG. 10 shows a diagrammatic representation of the machine1000 in the example form of a computer system, within which instructions1010 (e.g., software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, orother executable code) for causing the machine 1000 to perform any oneor more of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed. As such,the instructions 1010 may be used to implement modules or componentsdescribed herein. The instructions 1010 transform the general,non-programmed machine 1000 into a particular machine 1000 programmed tocarry out the described and illustrated functions in the mannerdescribed. In alternative embodiments, the machine 1000 operates as astandalone device or may be coupled (e.g., networked) to other machines.In a networked deployment, the machine 1000 may operate in the capacityof a server machine or a client machine in a server-client networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment. The machine 1000 may comprise, but not be limitedto, a server computer, a client computer, a personal computer (PC), atablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook, a set-top box (STB), apersonal digital assistant (PDA), an entertainment media system, acellular telephone, a smart phone, a mobile device, a wearable device(e.g., a smart watch), a smart home device (e.g., a smart appliance),other smart devices, a web appliance, a network router, a networkswitch, a network bridge, or any machine capable of executing theinstructions 1010, sequentially or otherwise, that specify actions to betaken by machine 1000. Further, while only a single machine 1000 isillustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include acollection of machines that individually or jointly execute theinstructions 1010 to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein.

The machine 1000 may include processors 1004, memory memory/storage1006, and I/O components 1018, which may be configured to communicatewith each other such as via a bus 1002. The memory/storage 1006 mayinclude a memory 1014, such as a main memory, or other memory storage,and a storage unit 1016, both accessible to the processors 1004 such asvia the bus 1002. The storage unit 1016 and memory 1014 store theinstructions 1010 embodying any one or more of the methodologies orfunctions described herein. The instructions 1010 may also reside,completely or partially, within the memory 1014, within the storage unit1016, within at least one of the processors 1004 (e.g., within theprocessor's cache memory), or any suitable combination thereof, duringexecution thereof by the machine 1000. Accordingly, the memory 1014, thestorage unit 1016, and the memory of processors 1004 are examples ofmachine-readable media.

The I/O components 1018 may include a wide variety of components toreceive input, provide output, produce output, transmit information,exchange information, capture measurements, and so on. The specific I/Ocomponents 1018 that are included in a particular machine 1000 willdepend on the type of machine. For example, portable machines such asmobile phones will likely include a touch input device or other suchinput mechanisms, while a headless server machine will likely notinclude such a touch input device. It will be appreciated that the I/Ocomponents 1018 may include many other components that are not shown inFIG. 10. The I/O components 1018 are grouped according to functionalitymerely for simplifying the following discussion and the grouping is inno way limiting. In various example embodiments, the I/O components 1018may include output components 1026 and input components 1028. The outputcomponents 1026 may include visual components (e.g., a display such as aplasma display panel (PDP), a light emitting diode (LED) display, aliquid crystal display (LCD), a projector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)),acoustic components (e.g., speakers), haptic components (e.g., avibratory motor, resistance mechanisms), other signal generators, and soforth. The input components 1028 may include alphanumeric inputcomponents (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receivealphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumericinput components), point based input components (e.g., a mouse, atouchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or other pointinginstrument), tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touchscreen that provides location and/or force of touches or touch gestures,or other tactile input components), audio input components (e.g., amicrophone), and the like.

In further example embodiments, the I/O components 1018 may includebiometric components 1030, motion components 1034, environmentalenvironment components 1036, or position components 1038 among a widearray of other components. For example, the biometric components 1030may include components to detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions,facial expressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, or eye tracking),measure biosignals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature,perspiration, or brain waves), identify a person (e.g., voiceidentification, retinal identification, facial identification,fingerprint identification, or electroencephalogram basedidentification), and the like. The motion components 1034 may includeacceleration sensor components (e.g., accelerometer), gravitation sensorcomponents, rotation sensor components (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth.The environment components 1036 may include, for example, illuminationsensor components (e.g., photometer), temperature sensor components(e.g., one or more thermometer that detect ambient temperature),humidity sensor components, pressure sensor components (e.g.,barometer), acoustic sensor components (e.g., one or more microphonesthat detect background noise), proximity sensor components (e.g.,infrared sensors that detect nearby objects), gas sensors (e.g., gasdetection sensors to detection concentrations of hazardous gases forsafety or to measure pollutants in the atmosphere), or other componentsthat may provide indications, measurements, or signals corresponding toa surrounding physical environment. The position components 1038 mayinclude location sensor components (e.g., a Global Position system (GPS)receiver component), altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters orbarometers that detect air pressure from which altitude may be derived),orientation sensor components (e.g., magnetometers), and the like.

Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies.The I/O components 1018 may include communication components 1040operable to couple the machine 1000 to a network 1032 or devices 1020via coupling 1022 and coupling 1024 respectively. For example, thecommunication components 1040 may include a network interface componentor other suitable device to interface with the network 1032. In furtherexamples, communication components 1040 may include wired communicationcomponents, wireless communication components, cellular communicationcomponents, Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth®components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and othercommunication components to provide communication via other modalities.The devices 1020 may be another machine or any of a wide variety ofperipheral devices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via a UniversalSerial Bus (USB)).

Moreover, the communication components 1040 may detect identifiers orinclude components operable to detect identifiers. For example, thecommunication components 1040 may include Radio Frequency Identification(RFID) tag reader components, NFC smart tag detection components,optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detectone-dimensional bar codes such as Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code,multi-dimensional bar codes such as Quick Response (QR) code, Azteccode, Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code, UCC RSS-2Dbar code, and other optical codes), or acoustic detection components(e.g., microphones to identify tagged audio signals). In addition, avariety of information may be derived via the communication components1040, such as, location via Internet Protocol (IP) geo-location,location via Wi-Fi® signal triangulation, location via detecting a NFCbeacon signal that may indicate a particular location, and so forth.

Glossary

“CARRIER SIGNAL” in this context refers to any intangible medium that iscapable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution bythe machine, and includes digital or analog communications signals orother intangible medium to facilitate communication of suchinstructions. Instructions may be transmitted or received over thenetwork using a transmission medium via a network interface device andusing any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols.

“CLIENT DEVICE” in this context refers to any machine that interfaces toa communications network to obtain resources from one or more serversystems or other client devices. A client device may be, but is notlimited to, a mobile phone, desktop computer, laptop, portable digitalassistants (PDAs), smart phones, tablets, ultra books, netbooks,laptops, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmableconsumer electronics, game consoles, set-top boxes, or any othercommunication device that a user may use to access a network.

“COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK” in this context refers to one or more portionsof a network that may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, avirtual private network (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wirelessLAN (WLAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), ametropolitan area network (MAN), the Internet, a portion of theInternet, a portion of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), aplain old telephone service (POTS) network, a cellular telephonenetwork, a wireless network, a Wi-Fi® network, another type of network,or a combination of two or more such networks. For example, a network ora portion of a network may include a wireless or cellular network andthe coupling may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) connection, aGlobal System for Mobile communications (GSM) connection, or other typeof cellular or wireless coupling. In this example, the coupling mayimplement any of a variety of types of data transfer technology, such asSingle Carrier Radio Transmission Technology (1×RTT), Evolution-DataOptimized (EVDO) technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)technology, Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology,third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourthgeneration wireless (4G) networks, Universal Mobile TelecommunicationsSystem (UMTS), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), WorldwideInteroperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE)standard, others defined by various standard setting organizations,other long range protocols, or other data transfer technology.

“EMPHEMERAL MESSAGE” in this context refers to a message that isaccessible for a time-limited duration. An ephemeral message may be atext, an image, a video and the like. The access time for the ephemeralmessage may be set by the message sender. Alternatively, the access timemay be a default setting or a setting specified by the recipient.Regardless of the setting technique, the message is transitory.

“MACHINE-READABLE MEDIUM” in this context refers to a component, deviceor other tangible media able to store instructions and data temporarilyor permanently and may include, but is not be limited to, random-accessmemory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), buffer memory, flash memory,optical media, magnetic media, cache memory, other types of storage(e.g., Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and/or anysuitable combination thereof. The term “machine-readable medium” shouldbe taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., acentralized or distributed database, or associated caches and servers)able to store instructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shallalso be taken to include any medium, or combination of multiple media,that is capable of storing instructions (e.g., code) for execution by amachine, such that the instructions, when executed by one or moreprocessors of the machine, cause the machine to perform any one or moreof the methodologies described herein. Accordingly, a “machine-readablemedium” refers to a single storage apparatus or device, as well as“cloud-based” storage systems or storage networks that include multiplestorage apparatus or devices. The term “machine-readable medium”excludes signals per se.

“COMPONENT” in this context refers to a device, physical entity or logichaving boundaries defined by function or subroutine calls, branchpoints, application program interfaces (APIs), or other technologiesthat provide for the partitioning or modularization of particularprocessing or control functions. Components may be combined via theirinterfaces with other components to carry out a machine process. Acomponent may be a packaged functional hardware unit designed for usewith other components and a part of a program that usually performs aparticular function of related functions. Components may constituteeither software components (e.g., code embodied on a machine-readablemedium) or hardware components. A “hardware component” is a tangibleunit capable of performing certain operations and may be configured orarranged in a certain physical manner. In various example embodiments,one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone computer system, aclient computer system, or a server computer system) or one or morehardware components of a computer system (e.g., a processor or a groupof processors) may be configured by software (e.g., an application orapplication portion) as a hardware component that operates to performcertain operations as described herein. A hardware component may also beimplemented mechanically, electronically, or any suitable combinationthereof. For example, a hardware component may include dedicatedcircuitry or logic that is permanently configured to perform certainoperations. A hardware component may be a special-purpose processor,such as a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or an ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). A hardware component may alsoinclude programmable logic or circuitry that is temporarily configuredby software to perform certain operations. For example, a hardwarecomponent may include software executed by a general-purpose processoror other programmable processor. Once configured by such software,hardware components become specific machines (or specific components ofa machine) uniquely tailored to perform the configured functions and areno longer general-purpose processors. It will be appreciated that thedecision to implement a hardware component mechanically, in dedicatedand permanently configured circuitry, or in temporarily configuredcircuitry (e.g., configured by software) may be driven by cost and timeconsiderations. Accordingly, the phrase “hardware component” (or“hardware-implemented component”) should be understood to encompass atangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed,permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily configured(e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or to perform certainoperations described herein. Considering embodiments in which hardwarecomponents are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed), each of thehardware components need not be configured or instantiated at any oneinstance in time. For example, where a hardware component comprises ageneral-purpose processor configured by software to become aspecial-purpose processor, the general-purpose processor may beconfigured as respectively different special-purpose processors (e.g.,comprising different hardware components) at different times. Softwareaccordingly configures a particular processor or processors, forexample, to constitute a particular hardware component at one instanceof time and to constitute a different hardware component at a differentinstance of time. Hardware components can provide information to, andreceive information from, other hardware components. Accordingly, thedescribed hardware components may be regarded as being communicativelycoupled. Where multiple hardware components exist contemporaneously,communications may be achieved through signal transmission (e.g., overappropriate circuits and buses) between or among two or more of thehardware components. In embodiments in which multiple hardwarecomponents are configured or instantiated at different times,communications between such hardware components may be achieved, forexample, through the storage and retrieval of information in memorystructures to which the multiple hardware components have access. Forexample, one hardware component may perform an operation and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it iscommunicatively coupled. A further hardware component may then, at alater time, access the memory device to retrieve and process the storedoutput. Hardware components may also initiate communications with inputor output devices, and can operate on a resource (e.g., a collection ofinformation). The various operations of example methods described hereinmay be performed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implementedcomponents that operate to perform one or more operations or functionsdescribed herein. As used herein, “processor-implemented component”refers to a hardware component implemented using one or more processors.Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented, with a particular processor or processors beingan example of hardware. For example, at least some of the operations ofa method may be performed by one or more processors orprocessor-implemented components. Moreover, the one or more processorsmay also operate to support performance of the relevant operations in a“cloud computing” environment or as a “software as a service” (SaaS).For example, at least some of the operations may be performed by a groupof computers (as examples of machines including processors), with theseoperations being accessible via a network (e.g., the Internet) and viaone or more appropriate interfaces (e.g., an Application ProgramInterface (API)). The performance of certain of the operations may bedistributed among the processors, not only residing within a singlemachine, but deployed across a number of machines. In some exampleembodiments, the processors or processor-implemented components may belocated in a single geographic location (e.g., within a homeenvironment, an office environment, or a server farm). In other exampleembodiments, the processors or processor-implemented components may bedistributed across a number of geographic locations.

“PROCESSOR” in this context refers to any circuit or virtual circuit (aphysical circuit emulated by logic executing on an actual processor)that manipulates data values according to control signals (e.g.,“commands”, “op codes”, “machine code”, etc.) and which producescorresponding output signals that are applied to operate a machine. Aprocessor may, for example, be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), aReduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processor, a ComplexInstruction Set Computing (CISC) processor, a Graphics Processing Unit(GPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC), a Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC)or any combination thereof. A processor may further be a multi-coreprocessor having two or more independent processors (sometimes referredto as “cores”) that may execute instructions contemporaneously.

“TIMESTAMP” in this context refers to a sequence of characters orencoded information identifying when a certain event occurred, forexample giving date and time of day, sometimes accurate to a smallfraction of a second.

“LIFT” in this context is a measure of the performance of a targetedmodel at predicting or classifying cases as having an enhanced response(with respect to a population as a whole), measured against a randomchoice targeting model.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: detecting an initiation of acommunication session at a client device; activating a camera associatedwith the client device responsive to the initiation of the communicationsession; causing the client device to generate image data via the cameraassociated with the client device, the image data comprising a set ofimage features that depict a face of a user of the client device;accessing a user profile associated with the client device, the userprofile comprising a set of avatar attributes; generating athree-dimensional (3D) avatar based on the set of image features of theimage data and the set of avatar attributes from the user profile; andcausing display of a presentation of the 3D avatar at a position withina messaging interface associated with the communication session.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the presentation of the 3D avatar comprises atext bubble to display a text string.
 3. The method of claim 2, whereinthe method further comprises: receiving audio data; transcribing theaudio data to generate the text string; and presenting the text stringwithin the text bubble associated with the 3D avatar.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the method further comprises: receiving facial trackingdata at the client device; and animating the presentation of the 3Davatar based on the facial tracking data.
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein the method further comprises: activating a microphone associatedwith the client device based on the facial tracking data; receivingaudio data via the microphone associated with the client device;transcribing the audio data to a text string; and presenting the textstring within a text bubble associated with the 3D avatar.
 6. The methodof claim 1, wherein the generating a3D avatar based on the set of imagefeatures of the image data and the set of avatar attributes from theuser profile further comprises: selecting the set of avatar attributesfrom among a plurality of avatar attributes based on the image data. 7.The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting the initiation of thecommunication session at the client device further comprises: receivinga request to join the communication session from the client device.
 8. Asystem comprising: a memory; and at least one hardware processor coupledto the memory and comprising instructions that causes the system toperform operations comprising: detecting an initiation of acommunication session at a client device; activating a camera associatedwith the client device responsive to the initiation of the communicationsession; causing the client device to generate image data via the cameraassociated with the client device, the image data comprising a set ofimage features that depict a face of a user of the client device;accessing a user profile associated with the client device, the userprofile comprising a set of avatar attributes; generating athree-dimensional (3D) avatar based on the set of image features of theimage data and the set of avatar attributes from the user profile; andcausing display of a presentation of the 3D avatar at a position withina messaging interface associated with the communication session.
 9. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein the presentation of the 3D avatar comprises atext bubble to display a text string.
 10. The system of claim 9, whereinthe operations further comprise: receiving audio data; transcribing theaudio data to generate the text string; and presenting the text stringwithin the text bubble associated with the 3D avatar.
 11. The system ofclaim 8, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving facialtracking data at the client device; and animating the presentation ofthe 3D avatar based on the facial tracking data.
 12. The system of claim11, wherein the operations further comprise: activating a microphoneassociated with the client device based on the facial tracking data;receiving audio data via the microphone associated with the clientdevice; transcribing the audio data to a text string; and presenting thetext string within a text bubble associated with the 3D avatar.
 13. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein the generating a 3D avatar based on the setof image features of the image data and the set of avatar attributesfrom the user profile further comprises: selecting the set of avatarattributes from among a plurality of avatar attributes based on theimage data.
 14. The system of claim 8, wherein the detecting theinitiation of the communication session at the client device furthercomprises: receiving a request to join the communication session fromthe client device.
 15. A non-transitory machine-readable storage mediumcomprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors ofa machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising: detectingan initiation of a communication session at a client device; activatinga camera associated with the client device responsive to the initiationof the communication session; causing the client device to generateimage data via the camera associated with the client device, the imagedata comprising a set of image features that depict a face of a user ofthe client device; accessing a user profile associated with the clientdevice, the user profile comprising a set of avatar attributes;generating a three-dimensional (3D) avatar based on the set of imagefeatures of the image data and the set of avatar attributes from theuser profile; and causing display of a presentation of the 3D avatar ata position within a messaging interface associated with thecommunication session.
 16. The non-transitory machine-readable storagemedium of claim 15, wherein the presentation of the 3D avatar comprisesa text bubble to display a text string.
 17. The non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the operationsfurther comprise: receiving audio data; transcribing the audio data togenerate the text string; and presenting the text string within the textbubble associated with the 3D avatar.
 18. The non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the operationsfurther comprise: receiving facial tracking data at the client device;and animating the presentation of the 3D avatar based on the facialtracking data.
 19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium ofclaim 18, wherein the operations further comprise: activating amicrophone associated with the client device based on the facialtracking data; receiving audio data via the microphone associated withthe client device; transcribing the audio data to a text string; andpresenting the text string within a text bubble associated with the 3Davatar.
 20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim15, wherein the generating a3D avatar based on the set of image featuresof the image data and the set of avatar attributes from the user profilefurther comprises: selecting the set of avatar attributes from among aplurality of avatar attributes based on the image data.